Climate Activism is NOT Terrorism!
It was always likely that the run-up to the December UN climate summit in Copenhagen would see the British police revert to their repressive ways, after their charm offensive in the summer. It’s already begun:
UK border police used anti-terrorist legislation to prevent a British climate change activist from crossing over into mainland Europe where he planned to take part in events surrounding the forthcoming United Nations summit in Denmark.
Chris Kitchen, a 31-year-old office worker, said he feared his treatment by police could mark the start of a clampdown on protesters, hundreds of whom are planning to travel to Copenhagen for the climate change talks in December.
Tonight he will make a second attempt to reach Denmark, where he plans to take part in discussions organised by a network of protest groups coming together under the banner Climate Justice Action.
He said he was prevented from crossing the border yesterday at about 5pm, when the coach he was travelling on stopped at the Folkestone terminal of the Channel tunnel.
Kitchen said police officers boarded the coach and, after checking all passengers’ passports, took him and another climate activist to be interviewed under schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000, a clause which enables border officials to stop and search individuals to determine if they are connected to terrorism.
The passports were not initially scanned, Kitchen said, suggesting the officials knew his name and had planned to remove him from the coach before they boarded. During his interview, he was asked questions about his family, work and past political activity. The police also asked him what he intended to do in Copenhagen.
When Kitchen said that anti-terrorist legislation does not apply to environmental activists, he said the officer replied that terrorism “could mean a lot of things”. By the time his 30-minute interview had concluded, Kitchen’s coach had gone.
This should surprise noone. The reason why the police’s behaviour was different to normal throughout the summer was because the interests of the state weren’t seen as being threatened. Granted there is clearly a widely held attitude amongst the police that climate activism is tantamount to terrorism – there’s little other explanation for their unprovoked and unwarranted violence against Climate Camp at Bishopsgate earlier in the year. But a camp in Blackheath, with the occasional forays into Canary Wharf and the City for PR stunts is hardly the same as a mass demonstration to coincide with the G20 leaders’ visit to London, or a ‘swoop’ on a power station like Ratcliffe-on-Soar. So nothing happened in the summer, whilst harsh scenes are likely in three days’ time, and ever more the closer we get to December. The violence in April was unwarranted and unacceptable – it’s equally unacceptable that the police should choose to use anti-terrorism legislation against environmentalists. Just don’t expect any major party to be able or want to unpick this mess any time soon.
Greenpeace go to Parliament
As we speak there are ‘over 40′ (Greenpeace and Jason claiming 55- but will use BBC just to be sure…) Greenpeace protesters on the roof of the Palace of Westminster waiting to welcome politicians back from their holiday tomorrow. They have put forward a list of 12 policies to save the climate. It’s a really interesting read – and one that at some point soon would make an interesting blog to pull apart what is and isn’t viable at the moment.
What it did make me think of, however, was something I had spotted a few weeks ago, an idea I really like, Solar Roadways. Now bear with me here, I know that this idea is slightly Sci-Fi but the more I think about it the more brilliant a solution it becomes.
Essentially some clever boffin types have produced a solar panel which can double up as road – it has a similar amount of grip to tarmac, heats itself, has LEDs to flash up messages and change road routes and puts electricity into the grid. They come in a kind of Lego type square 12′ by 12′ sheet that connects up and lasts for around 21 years (as opposed to current tarmacs life expectancy of around 7) and based on a 15% efficiency they think they can produce 7.6kWh per day. I quote from their site:
Our hypothetical 4-lane, one-mile stretch of road would require 1760 Solar Road Panels™. That means that, each day, this stretch of Solar Roadway™ would produce at least 13,376 kWh of electricity. That’s 4,882,240 kWh per year – enough to take 500 homes completely “off grid”. You don’t get that out of asphalt!
Essentially then, you could get the main road through smaller towns kitted out with these things and power the town itself not to mention that they then can sell any left over power to other countries or electricity suppliers at a nice profit going straight back into government coffers!
Anyway that just scratches the surface of the whole idea, I’d recommend you go and have a look – although these guys may be a little over their heads when you start delving into the depths of the website, surely ideas like these are things we should be considering for future climate action. As always would love to hear you thoughts and ideas, have you spotted anything similar we should be trying to bring to peoples’ attention?
Change the Politics, Save the Climate
As I type 55 Greenpeace activists are on top of the Houses of Parliament. From their site:
Fifty-five Greenpeace volunteers have scaled the walls of the Houses of Parliament and are now occupying the roof to call for for a new style of politics in Britain, one capable of rising to meet the challenge of climate change.
Tomorrow MPs return from their summer break and the government’s own Committee on Climate Change will publish a progress report on UK carbon emissions. They make it clear that Britain is not doing enough to meet its commitments, and insist that a “step change” in emissions cuts is needed. With just 60 days go until the critical climate summit in Copenhagen – which faces a very real chance of failure as things stand – Britain has yet to show true commitment to making the process a success. We need politicans who are thinking about the next generation, not just the next election.
The climbers have unfurled a banner on the roof of the Palace of Westminster’s Great Hall which says: “CHANGE THE POLITICS, SAVE THE CLIMATE.” They are vowing to stay on the roof overnight so they can welcome politicians back in the morning.
Before breaching Westminster security they told police officers exactly who they were, making it clear that they were about to embark on a peaceful protest.
Five of the volunteers – all of them experienced rope access experts – then climbed up the building’s 15m lightning conductor to the roof’s apex. They are now out of reach of security guards, and plan to stay up there for the next 24 hours.
Anna Jones is on the roof of Parliament and says: “We need a green economy that will create jobs and bring prosperity while helping us beat climate change. We need politicians to be fighting for the next generation, not just the next election.”
The other protesters are on a lower roof, equipped with tents and enough food and water to maintain an overnight occupation. They’ve issued a climate manifesto and are asking all politicians to sign it. It lists twelve simple steps our politicians could take to quickly cut Britain’s carbon use, and to provide the help poorer countries need to develop clean energy, adapt to the impacts of climate change and protect their rainforests.
Our manifesto includes ruling out all emissions from new coal-fired power stations, ending airport expansion and delivering on the clean energy revolution that would see Britain harness the huge natural resources of our wind-swept island to build employment, develop new green industries and cut pollution. People say they get into politics to make a real difference. Well here’s their chance.
The clock’s ticking down to the big climate summit in Copenhagen, but politicians are still treating the most important issue of our time as a political plaything. We need a green economy that will create jobs and bring prosperity while helping us beat climate change.
Climate Camp’s Climate Casino
The Blackheath Climate Camp has gone ahead with its first direct action, setting up a climate casino outside the European Carbon Exchange in Bishopsgate, scene of the now-infamous attack against them by the Metropolitan Police in April:
